Greece’s new statistics agency chief promised swift reforms that would produce reliable financial data free from government interference.
Former IMF official Andreas Georgiou took up his post Thursday heading the statistics agency that had been widely discredited last year after the then incoming Papandreou government revealed that budget data had been embellished.
The agency now has been placed under parliamentary oversight and not under direct government control.
Serious errors in Greek deficit data, revealed last year, helped trigger the European government debt crisis rattled world markets and confidence in the euro.
“When there is a deadline, it must be met. We must reach the highest standard … There can be no flexibility on this point,” Georgiou said.
Creating an independent agency – renamed as the Hellenic Statistical Authority – was a key step, along with painful austerity measures, for Greece to be granted 110 billion euros in rescue loans from the International Monetary Fund and other European Union countries that use the euro.
The European Union blamed government interference and shoddy accounting practices for the massive errors, which saw Greece shoot four times above the deficit cap set for the eurozone.
The government has promised to work closer with the EU statistics agency, Eurostat, to produce reliable data. Georgiou said the Greek agency required a “shift in mentality” to overcome prevailing negative perceptions and achieve a higher standard.
“We face a great responsibility, because problems with statistical data can have negative consequences for the national economy. We must never let this happen again,” Georgiou told an audience of about 200 employees. “We must overcome the negative perception about Greek statistics… Our ascent will not be quick but it will be achieved.”